T/N: I’ve had this sitting on my files I forgot to post it. Sorry everyone~

Chapter 3

“It’s lunchtime, Your Highness.”

With a small knock, a maid entered the room with a sullen expression. In her hands was a tray with food.

On the tray were freshly baked bread, hot soup, and roasted duck seasoned and lightly baked in the oven, all looking appetizing. It was a splendid meal that could bring back even a lost appetite at a glance.

The maid spoke in a prim voice as she watched the princess receive the tray.

“Make sure to eat it all. If you leave it like last time, I’ll be scolded.”

The maid who came from the Ivanstein ducal family disliked being in charge of the princess’s meals, and she didn’t try to hide that feeling. From the moment she first arrived in Hartenbrun, she had said this:

“I was ordered to serve Your Highness, but I wasn’t told to serve you well. So don’t expect too much. After all, Your Highness is a prisoner.”

Mel realized her position upon hearing those words. She would be given some respect as a princess, but nothing more than that of a prisoner.

Mel had heard much about what the empire’s emperor would do with a captive princess. That he would make her his concubine, or that he would humiliate her in all sorts of ways before executing her. Such high-level rumors circulated in the Reibritton Kingdom that Amelia became frightened and ran away. So even if the Ivanstein ducal family assigned a maid to her now, there wasn’t much to expect.

Although she was a prisoner, she was still the most talked-about princess in the empire, and if even a word about Ivanstein’s rudeness and insults came out of her mouth, things could become troublesome. This was probably their way of apologizing for what she had complained about.

“…Thank you, I’ll eat well.”

As Mel nodded obediently, the maid’s face became strange.

They said she was a haughty and proud princess who would publicly insult the empire’s emperor. So they thought that even if she was captured as a prisoner, she would not lose that loftiness.

“You’re quite strange, Your Highness.”

“Is that so.”

Seeing the princess’s bitter smile, the maid clicked her tongue. The princess seemed completely indifferent no matter how rudely she behaved in front of her.

From what she heard, the princess had been gagged and locked up, but no trace of that humiliation could be found on her clear face. Moreover, she didn’t treat the maid rudely, despite the maid’s status being far beneath that of a princess.

The maid lost even the will to try to insult the princess, unnecessarily tensing her neck. To torment someone, there needs to be a reaction for it to be satisfying.

“Could I know when Duke Ivanstein’s insomnia started?”

“Why are you asking about that?”

The maid’s voice, which had momentarily softened in front of the princess, immediately sharpened. Eyes filled with suspicion pierced Mel mercilessly.

“That’s not something for Your Highness to be concerned about. Perhaps you should reflect on your own position?”

The maid’s words were cold but accurate. If the archbishop had said that the cause of Duke Ivanstein’s sudden sleep might lie with the princess, she probably wouldn’t even be able to have this conversation with the maid. She would have been killed without a sound, and the emperor would have been told that the princess had committed suicide during transport.

“I didn’t hear that question just now. So put aside your unnecessary curiosity.”

The maid warned with a coldly settled gaze. For a maid, not reporting the princess’s curiosity to her superiors was already showing favor.

“Call if you need more food. Though by the looks of it, you’ll leave it all again.”

The maid closed the door with an uncomfortable face. With the click of the door locking, her presence gradually faded away.

Mel swallowed a sigh and set the tray down on the table.

She was destined to die anyway, being toyed with once she’s handed over to the emperor. She didn’t want to enter the imperial palace in a state pleasing to the emperor. This was the least resistance she could manage.

Quite some time had passed since that day when she faced Genoa in the warehouse. Each time her prepared death was postponed a little, her heart grew weaker. It made her harbor unnecessary hope.

‘Could it be that he’s hesitating because my old self came to mind?’

For a moment, such a thought crossed her mind, but Mel shook her head and slapped her own cheeks with both hands.

‘If I weren’t a princess, I wouldn’t even be alive like this. How presumptuous.’

If Mel had stood before Duke Ivanstein as the slave who had abandoned Genoa and ran away in the past, she would have lost her life immediately. Genoa would not forgive a traitor.

‘What should I do now……’

It would have been better if she had died at the hands of Genoa, who became Duke Ivanstein, in the crumbling Reibritton royal palace. In front of Genoa, Mel could neither be a princess nor a slave.

Mel bit her nails and paced back and forth in place. She couldn’t think of a way to escape this situation where she had once again deceived Genoa. In the end, after thinking until her head hurt, unable to find a solution, Mel lay down on the bed and curled up. A sense of helplessness weighed down her entire body.

The weight of the life she had endured until now was too heavy.

* * *

The complexion of the sleeping princess was pale. One might mistake her for a corpse if they glanced at her carelessly. Genoa stared at the princess’s face for a long time.

With the emperor’s death, the princess had gained an opportunity to escape her miserable fate. She was a lucky woman. Unlike the pitiful Mel. Despite having so many similarities that it was frustrating, this was something they didn’t share. Thinking this way made Genoa’s insides twist.

He felt unpleasant when he discovered similarities with Mel, and when he saw differences, he felt displeased. Perhaps this moment of realizing that the tender hatred he held for Mel was also directed towards the princess was what made him uncomfortable.

“Is the princess still trying to starve herself to death?”

Genoa asked, tapping the plate that remained untouched on the tray. The maid who was in charge of watching and serving the princess bowed her head and answered.

“She eats about one meal a day.”

“Just enough not to die, huh.”

Is such a simple meal too difficult for her precious palate to even touch? Genoa stared at the princess with a cold gaze and then ordered.

“Wake her up.”

“Yes.”

The maid took the water glass from the tray and splashed it on the princess’s face.

“Huh!”

The princess swallowed a short scream as she woke up. Her thin eyelashes, soaked with water, trembled. Still unable to fully come to her senses, she blinked rapidly, and the water flowed down her cheeks like tears, reaching the tip of her chin.

“Does the meal not suit your taste, Your Highness?”

“……Duke Ivanstein?”

The princess raised her head abruptly upon hearing Genoa’s voice. Her face brightened as she met his eyes. Seeing the princess’s face suddenly light up, an absurd illusion arose.

‘Is she actually welcoming me right now?’

Genoa put more weight on his speculation that the princess had lost her mind. Otherwise, there was no way she would make such a face in front of an enemy who held her life in his hands. The princess’s busy gaze was examining every corner of his face.

On his way to the princess’s room, Genoa had thought of a few reactions she might show when facing him. Spitting, cursing, or bursting into tears. He expected some ordinary reactions that a captured princess might show. But…

“Were you perhaps waiting for me?”

At Genoa’s question, Mel turned pale and hurriedly bowed her head. For a moment, she had forgotten that she needed to wear the mask of a princess.

“Since you’ve come, Duke, it means I’ll soon be going to the imperial palace, doesn’t it?”

At her answer, the corners of Genoa’s mouth twisted upwards. As his suspicious gaze shifted away from her face, Mel secretly swallowed a sigh.

“Indeed, you are wise. For Your Highness, flattering the old emperor in the imperial palace rather than staying in this squalid place would be a better choice for prolonging your life.”

Mel knew what kind of misunderstanding Genoa had made, but she kept her mouth shut. There was no need to clear up the misunderstanding.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but Your Highness will be going to the Ivanstein mansion, not the imperial palace.”

“Why is that?”

The princess of Reibritton was soon to become the emperor’s plaything. Even during the war, rumors had spread about how the emperor’s body was burning with desire.

In fact, it was already an act of mercy that Duke Ivanstein had bought her some time with his own will. So, at a time when it wouldn’t be strange to hand her over to the imperial palace as soon as possible, why the Ivanstein mansion?